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20100816

The Time of your Life




Don't sulk, Quinty. It's unbecoming in a man of your age. And sit up straight; you're slouching again.


9 comments:

  1. One may slouch without sulking necessarily. Quinty has slouched through most of his life and, if I may say so, he does it charmingly. As for sulking, I believe both Quinty and I are too depressed about the human condition to sulk. At our age we are becoming morose.

    Please forgive Nausicaa. You know I love your way with language. It's just semantics, nothing personal.

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  2. Funny Jazzo. We old farts have to stick together.

    As for the young punks among us.... there was a time when we had a Picasso in the plastic arts, a Shostokovich in music, and a Wild Bill Faulkner in literature. In fact, these names, taken here at random, represent many in each artistic endeavor. Nor was that so long ago.

    So what happened? I don't know. Does it matter? Having a few great artists around who "rebuild the eye," as Malcolm Cowley nicely put it, can be old fashioned. But by god it is glorious.

    (Speaking of Shostokovich... you want to know what World War II was like? The worst horrors of the twentieth century? Listen to Shostokovich. It's all there. Better than any documentary on TV.)

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  3. Sometimes when a man recalls the good old days, he's really thinking of his bad young days.

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  4. Oh my, what a point. A pointed point.

    My first shocked reaction to this is that you desire to draw blood. And what are you trying to prove?

    Somehow the point I was trying to make seems lost. And it has all become about me. "The bad young days?" "The good old days?"

    What are you trying to say, young man? Are you trying to prove your wit? Have I offended you somehow?

    Do I really deserve that?

    Go ahead, please be open about it. I'm curious now. And I guess you really don't care, so please, go ahead. Tell me, whatever it is. It's only words on the web, isn't that right? Please, do.....

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  5. How quaint. This is how it was done, wasn't it? In the days of yore. An offended party would issue a public personal grievance to a deemed offender, for some perceived insult, real or imagined, and demand satisfaction.

    What a time this must have been. Imagine the blood rise for an instant as the "offended party" would issue his challenge.

    Typically, the way this was handled, each party would fire one shot. If neither man was hit and if the challenger stated that he was satisfied, the duel would be declared over. A pistol duel could continue until one man was wounded or killed, but to have more than three exchanges of fire was considered barbaric and, if no hits were achieved, somewhat ridiculous.

    Under the latter conditions, one or both parties could intentionally miss in order to fulfill the conditions of the duel, without loss of either life or honor. However, to do so, "to delope", could imply that your opponent was not worth shooting. This practice occurred despite being expressly banned by the Code Duello of 1777.

    Anyway, I meant no offense, Q.

    "Sometimes when a man recalls the good old days, he's really thinking of his bad young days." That delightful aphorism was intended as a follow-up comment on the charming youtube clip from that René Clair's movie that Nausica shared with us. It says what it says, and it fits perfectly.

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  6. I must confess, it makes me wonder what Quinty's "bad young days" must have been like (^_-)

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  7. I will reveal it:

    upon occasion
    Quinty could be found
    on the docks of Portland, Maine,
    fishing
    illegally.

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